Cream of Mushroom Soup

I love fall. It finally cools off enough to comfortably wear a sweater (I *love* hoodies!) and soups are again a perfect comforting food. There is something about sitting down to a bowl of warm soup that just hits the spot for me. Now that I have allowed myself to eat anything I want again, there are a bunch of things that used to be of limits that I am enjoying again. One of those things is cream of mushroom soup.

Thing is, I remember the canned version of CoM soup being much more….. tasty than it was when I opened one up. So naturally, creating a home-cooked version of the soup became a new obsession. I researched a ton of cream-of-whatever soups, figured out the basic technique, learned a little about a lesser-used technique, and then finally decided to make my own.

Creamy, thick yummy goodness…. Did I mention there are mushrooms? Or creamy goodness? This is a must-try recipe!

This is the result. I seriously think it is the best soup I’ve ever made, but I LOVE LOVE LOVE cream of mushroom soups so I might be biased. Even my husband, who thinks cream of mushroom soup “is nasty” said this one recipe is good.

Cutting up the veggies for this does take a while, but it is worth it. Once everything is diced up, it actually is a pretty quick process. I made enough with this recipe to have a bowl for dinner afterwards and 4 bowls of leftovers for lunches at work. It reheated very well, with no splitting at all. I am planning on freezing some the next time around, and I will update this post and let you all know how it goes – but considering how well it reheated, I am not concerned.

Cream of Mushroom Soup

The Ingredients

16 ounces mushrooms, diced (I used the white button kind, feel free to get creative and mix it up!)

1/2 a medium onion, diced

1 stick of butter (I never said this was low fat, just that it is amazing!)

1/2 teaspoon salt

6 tablespoons flour (for gluten-free, use mochiko rice flour)

4 cups chicken stock (naturally homemade it best, but I cheat and use the boxed kind sometimes 🙂 and it’s still fine)

1/4 teaspoon thyme powder

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon dried basil

1/2 teaspoon fresh-ground pepper

2 cups heavy whipping cream (see note at “butter”)

2 egg yolks

The Hardware

Plastic cutting board

A chef’s knife

A large stock pot (mine holds 8 quarts)

A sturdy kitchen spoon

Measuring cups

Small bowl

Fork

The Instructions

Place the stick of butter and the salt in the stock pot and put on medium or medium low (depending on how fast you dice veggies). As it melts, get started on the dicing. When the cutting board gets full, add it to the butter in the pan and stir.

Once all the veggies are diced, turn the heat up to medium high. Once the mushrooms are cooked and the onion is translucent, add the flour.

Stir in the flour to create a roux paste. The butter will absorb into the flour.

Add the chicken stock, thyme, oregano, basil and pepper. Bring to a boil.

Add the heavy cream. Stir while combining.

Use your measuring cup to grab about a 1/4 cup of the liquid in the pot. Try not to get too many veggies,and !!!Be Careful!!! Steam is hot and can burn easily!

Separate the egg yolks into a small bowl and whip up with a fork. Slowly drizzle in the hot soup liquid to temper the eggs (otherwise they will curdle, which is not yummy!). Once the egg mix is created and warm, add it back to the soup.

Allow to bubble away until it reaches your desired consistency. I like my cream soups a little thicker than some, but it was still not a long time. Between the flour and the egg, it thickens up quickly.

Ladle into bowls and enjoy!

Once you have the veggies cooking, this goes pretty fast! I like to measure out my spices into a cute little tasting bowl set my grandmother got me for my wedding so I can just dump things in quickly as I go. It makes it easier to keep moving when the steps are close together! The French call this “mise en place” which means “things in place”. It’s a good tip for pretty much any cooking you do in the kitchen.

Whatever leftovers you have won’t last long! If you like, you can portion this out into “can size” baggies to freeze and use the next time a crock pot recipe calls for cream of mushroom soup. It’s very tasty and much better for you than the can!